Peter Winick separates two business models: the question business, where you help clients find their own answers through coaching, and the answer business, where you sell your expertise and solutions. Your positioning, pricing, and enjoyment depend on which one you actually do.
Hi, it's Peter Winick. I'm the founder and CEO at Thought Leadership Leverage, and here's the idea that I'd like to share with you today, and that's this: Do you know what business you're in? What do I mean by that? Well, some thought leaders and experts and authors and such are in the question business. Others are in the answer business. What do I mean by this? Well, if you're in an advisory role, if you're coaching, your job is really to ask the right questions to get the client to make the connections that they need, to think about things a little bit differently, to synthesize their thinking so that they come up with an answer to the situation that they're in. If you're hired as a consultant, as an expert, part of what you're getting paid for is your experience, your expertise, your answers, right? So, you need to understand the value proposition Which is different when you're in the question business than when you're in the answer business, and you need to know how to position yourself accordingly. So, seems like a simple question, but think about it and go back over the last couple months and the type of work that you've done and say, wow, I find myself to be more often in the question business or the answer business, and then think about which, which of those you enjoy more, and are you positioned in getting compensated appropriately for whichever one is best for you? Love to hear your thoughts.
